Disclaimer : I don't own
Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was also inspired by a comment from hushpuppie1 in lj.

[!] Spoiler : if you know
who Ryuuji Otogi/Duke Devlin is, this story will not spoil anything. If you
don't, this story will spoil his identity, as well as the outcome of Duelist
Kingdom.

written at 4th march 2004,
by Misura

----------

He should have known
better. Should have asked Yugi to come with him or something. Or Ryou, maybe,
though that might have been risky too, with that psychotic yami of his being
all protective and possessive about the boy. But Yugi would have been perfect.

"I really wonder what
Kaiba sees in you, you know. I wouldn't have thought he'd be one to go for dumb
blondes."

"You are sooo
dead."

Honda squared his
shoulders, sighingly deciding he'd better do something. After all, it was his
own fault the two of them were here. If only he had been smart enough to make
sure Joey -really- was out of earshot before telling Otogi about his entry in
today's Duel Monsters-tournament, this whole mess would never have happened.

Unfortunately though, Joey
-had- been able to overhear the news, promptly declaring he'd come to give
advice and cheer for his friend. At which Otogi had snapped that -he-, as
Honda's boyfriend, was much better suited for that job and that Joey's presence
was neither needed nor wanted.

He had felt obliged to
speak up for Joey then, since, well, they -were- good friends. But then Otogi
had looked all sad, so he had added that, of course, Otogi was important to him
as well. Thus, in the end, it had been decided that they'd both come along.

A biiig mistake, if ever
he'd made one.

"Guys ... could you
knock if off? Please?"

Two pairs of eyes stared
at him, blinking as if having trouble to remember who he was again.
Unsurprisingly, Otogi was the first to recover.

"Of course, Honda,
anything for you! Although it was really all Joey's fault."

Honda wondered if he'd
still have a living boy-friend at the end of this day. Judging by the
expression on Joey's face, the odds weren't too good.

"Zip it, dicey!"

Yes, he should have asked
Yugi.

-----

By some sort of miracle,
they arrived still in time for Honda to confirm his entry and receive his
contestant's card. Otogi claimed it was thanks to his good luck. Joey, luckily,
wasn't around to contest that, since he was busy deciding what to buy from the
food-stand.

Honda almost dared to hope
the rest of this day might run relatively smoothly, with Joey too busy eating
and thinking about food to get into fights with Otogi and Otogi too distracted
by his gorgeous, sexy boyfriend who desperately needed his help and support in
the tournament to make any more insulting comments about Kaiba, the merits of
Joey's deck or puppies in general.

Alas, it wasn't meant to
be. The peace and quiet Honda so cherished lasted for exactly two-and-a-half
minutes. Then Joey got it in his head that he might be better able to give
Honda useful tips about playing if he'd get to see Honda's deck one more time.

Personally, Honda didn't
mind. He knew his deck by heart, knew which cards worked best together, knew
what strategies he was going to use against which type of opposing decks. And
if browsing through his deck kept Joey happy and occupied for another ten
minutes, that was a nice bonus. Plus, there always was the chance Joey might
see something that had slipped Honda's mind.

After all, Joey -had-
finished second in Duelist Kingdom. That had to mean -something-.

"Why should Honda let
you see his deck? Your hands are still all sticky from that doughtnut you ate!
Besides, it's not as if you could offer any kind of intelligent advise
anyway." Otogi scoffed, swatting Joey's hand away as he reached for
Honda's cards.

"I'll have you know
that I finished -second- in Duelist Kingdom! That's more than you can
say!" Joey snapped back. "And it's -Honda-'s deck, not yours. And he
said it was okay."

"Hah!" Otogi
sneered. "And who was it that crushed you so utterly and would have made
you wear a dog-costume for a week if it hadn't been for Yugi saving your
skin?"

"That was nothing but
dumb luck!" Joey growled. Honda vainly wished he'd have made Otogi promise
not to bring the topic of that dog-suit up today. It never failed to get Joey
riled up. And it had gotten kind of old too, in Honda's opinion.

"-And- I am the
unbeaten champion of Dungeon Dice Monsters," Otogi added smugly.
Technically, that wasn't true, since Yugi had beaten him, but by invoking some
obscure rule, Otogi had managed not to have to hand over his title. Yugi hadn't
cared. Joey -had-, but with Yami jumping at people's throats if they so much as
-sneezed- in Yugi's direction, he had wisely kept his mouth shut in Yugi's
company.

"That's just because
you created the game in the first place."

"Awww, are you very
jealous of my genius? I bet the only game -you- ever thought up was 'Let's play
lapdog to Kaiba'."

Honda was quite grateful that
Joey's reply was drowned out by the sound of the bell that announced the start
of the first round, followed by a list of which player was to play where.

-tbc-

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